Ball juggling
Balls are roughly spherical objects, usually small enough that several can be held in one hand at a time. They are the most common prop used for toss juggling and bounce juggling, and they are the prop that most people learn to juggle first. Most jugglers consider balls to be easier to juggle than rings or clubs. Beanbags are the most common type of juggling ball, and are preferred by many jugglers, especially numbers jugglers. The highest number of balls that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) is 10 for both toss juggling and bounce juggling, and the highest number of balls that have been flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) is 13 for toss juggling (by Alex Barron) and 12 for bounce juggling (by Alan Sulc). 3 balls 400px|left|3 ball tricks by Tsubasa MurakamiThe 3 ball cascade is usually the first juggling pattern a juggler learns. Some tricks (such as upside-down patterns) are only done with 3 balls because the speed or accuracy required makes them practically impossible to do with 4 or more. Other tricks (such as a shower under a shower under a shower under a shower) can only be done with more than 3 objects. The IJA has had a 3 ball performance competition as part of the individual prop competitions since 2004 (first winner: Ivan Pecel), and the WJF had its first 3 ball freestyle competition in 2011 (winner: Michael Falcov). The world record for 3 ball endurance is 12 hours and 5 minutes by David Slick. 4 balls thumb|left|400px|4 ball tricks by Tsubasa Murakami 4 balls are most commonly juggled in a fountain pattern (2 balls in each hand). The wimpy pattern is more difficult for beginning 4 ball jugglers because the ball collide easily, but since crossing throws are generally easier than non-crossing throws, the wimpy pattern is easier than the fountain for higher numbers. The WJF intermediate ball competition allowed a minimum of 4 balls until 2010, when the format for that competition was changed to allow only 5 ball juggling. The WJF had its first 4 ball freestyle competition in 2011 (winner: Jack Denger). The 4 ball endurance world record is 2 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds by Zdeněk Bradáč. 5 balls thumb|left|400px|5 ball competition routines at WJF 6 The basic pattern for 5 ball juggling is a higher (and/or faster) version of the 3 ball cascade. 5 is the minimum number of balls used in the competitions in the WJF overall championship. 5 balls was originally the minimum for the advanced ball short program; since 2010 that competition is for 5 balls only. The other 5 ball competitions in the overall championship are freestyle (best trick competion; held since 2006) and formerly 360s (most 5 up 360s in 1 minute; discontinued for balls and rings after 2008). The WJF also has an intermediate level 5 ball short program. The unofficial world record for 5 balls (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video?) is 3 hours and 47 minutes by Thomas Dietz. 6 balls thumb|left|400px|6 ball sequence by Thomas Dietz A lot of jugglers don't spend much time working on 6 balls, because it's too high a number to be of much interest to low-number specialists, and too low a number to be of much interest to numbers jugglers, and numbers jugglers generally prefer to work on cascades more than fountains. The WJF overall championship has included a 6 ball freestyle competition since 2006. Thomas Dietz won this competition every year until he retired from competition in 2008; after that Doug Sayers has won it each year. The unofficial 6 ball world record (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video?) is 24 minutes by Thomas Dietz. 7 balls thumb|left|400px|7 ball tricks by David Ferman 7 is often the highest number of balls used in a performance. The WJF overall championship has two competitions for 7 balls: freestyle (held since 2004), and isolated endurance (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns; held since 2005, part of the overall championship since 2007). The world record for 7 ball juggling is 11 minutes and 37 seconds by Anthony Gatto (video). 8 balls thumb|left|400px|8 ball 8 up 360 by David Ferman The first person to juggle 8 balls in the IJA's numbers endurance competition was Dan Bennett in 1984. 8 is now the minimum number of balls used in the IJA's numbers endurance competition. 8 balls was the minimum number of balls used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition until 2010. Since 2011 the WJF ball endurance competition has started with 9 balls. The 8 ball juggling world record is 1 minute and 13 seconds by Anthony Gatto (video - GE11). 9 balls thumb|left|400px|9 ball 7 up 360 to a collect by David Ferman The first person to juggle 9 balls in the IJA's numbers endurance competition was Anthony Gatto in 1989. 9 is the minimum number of balls used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition, and is the highest number of balls that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF. The world record for 9 balls is 54 seconds by Anthony Gatto. Tricks that have been done with 9 balls include: *Stacks (qualified) video *Cascade with head bounce (not qualified) video *Halfshower (qualified) video *(ax,8)* (flashed) video *7 up 360 (not qualified) video *6 overhead throws (to collect) video *1 backcross (to collect) video 10 balls thumb|left|400px|10 ball world record by David Ferman 10 is the highest number of balls that have been performed on stage. No one has successfully juggled 10 balls in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF, which require a qualifying run. The 10 ball world record is 26 catches by David Ferman (video). Bruce Sarafian and Thomas Dietz both claim to have done 28 catches, but have no video evidence. Patterns that have been done with 10 balls: *Async fountain (qualified) video *Sync fountain (qualified) video *Wimpy pattern (qualified) video *Lift bounce (qualified, world record video no longer available on YouTube) *Force bounce (flashed) video *Stacks (qualified) video *Splits (qualified) video *Halfshower (flashed) video 11 balls thumb|400px|leftBruce Sarafian was the first person to flash 11 balls, in 1992. In 1994, he broke his own world record with 12 catches, and in 1997 Jason Garfield tied for the record, also getting 12 catches. In 2000 Jason beat Bruce's record with 14 catches, and in 2001 Bruce regained the record, getting 15 catches. This remained the world record for 11 balls until 2010, when Alex Barron also got 15 catches, and then 17 catches 3 days later. 3 days after that Peter Bone broke the record with 18 catches, and in 4 more days Alex did 19. 2 days later Alex Barron got 21 catches of 11 balls (video). Alex claimed to have done 23 catches 4 days after he did 21, but his camera got knocked over by the wind just before he did it, so there was no video evidence of the qualify until he was able to get 23 catches again in 2012 (video - current world record). Besides the basic pattern, 3 tricks have also been done with 11 ball toss juggling: a flash ending with a 1 up 360 by Peter Bone (video), a flash of a halfshower by Simon à Campo (video), and 12 catches of (cx,a)* by Alex Barron (video). 11 catches of 11 balls has also been done in a lift bounce by Tim Nolan (video). 12 balls thumb|400px|left|12 ball world record by Alex BarronBruce Sarafian was the first person to flash 12 balls, in the wimpy pattern, in 1996 (video). Ben Beever flashed 12 in a sync fountain in 2001, but JISCON listed it as a "disputed record" because the video does not meet their standards for validation (the first two throws are not shown). Sam Hartford reported to have flashed a 12 ball sync fountain in 2002, but didn't submit the record to JISCON until 2010 (video). Peter Bone flashed a 12 ball async fountain in 2006 (video), and Brian Koenig flashed a 12 ball sync fountain in 2007 (video). Alex Barron broke the world record in 2010 with 13 catches of a sync fountain (video no longer available on YouTube). In 2011, Dan Wood flashed a 12 ball sync fountain in April (video), Alex Barron broke his own world record with 14 catches of a sync fountain in May (video), David Leahy also flashed 12 balls in a sync fountain in June (video), and then Alex Barron broke the world record again with 16 catches (the current world record for 12 balls) of a sync fountain in December (video). 12 balls have also been flashed in a force bounce by Alan Sulc in 2008 (video) and stacks by Bruce Sarafian in 2009 (video). 13 balls thumb|400px|left|13 ball flash by Alex BarronPeter Bone claims to have flashed 13 balls after about 100 tries in 2005, but has no video evidence. Alex Barron became the first (and so far the only) person ever to flash 13 balls on video in 2011.